Having a wonderful time here in BA. Every dinner is a gourmet delight, one of which I would rate amongst my Top Ten meals

An outstanding time with the Federal Police, including walking on patrol with a team through Villa 1-11-14, which is a super lively part of town. The training was highly enjoyable, all present were special forces of one form or another and the motivational and the adrenal experience level was very high. I received a gift from one of the men that touched me quite deeply-- the beret he received upon being admitted to the Federal Police Special Forces.

Another day of fun and games with Hernan and his people. Dos Triques, Kali Tudo, and Stickgrappling. Then I was treated to a brief explanation and demonstration of Argentinian knife and blanket fighting.

A bit of a crisis here. I will not be able to be in Rio this weekend. When I went to the airport here in Buenos Aires, Argentina this morning I was informed that starting one year ago Brazil decided to apply the same treatment to Americans that we apply to Brazilians. This includes having to get a visa (in all my previous travels an American passport had sufficed in and of itself) various requirements and processing time all of which were impossible to accomplish in time on a Friday afternoon. The details of all this are unimportant here, but I would like to note the heroic efforts of Paulo in Brazil and Hernan here in BA helping me out.

That said, my host Diego and I are SOL, as are all the people who have arranged to come from Rio, Curitiba, Argentina, and even one from Ecuador! The purpose of this post is to enable people to adjust as best as they can

*There are hardly any chain stores or restaurants;* Before a red light turns green, the yellow light comes on for a second-- nice detail;* They are in the peak of presidential election and billboards are everywhere. The one that says "Limite. Ella o vos" is fg brilliant-- Limite can be read here as a noun or a command and is a reference to Pres. Kirchner's Peronist regime (an Argentine form of fascism) which currently is looking to subject the judiciary to majority (mob) rule and get her a third term.*Prices are incredibly reasonable for many things.

*Almost no women where dresses or skirts. I think I saw maybe three my whole time here.

*Most neighborhood intersections have no stop signs at all. The car to the right has right of way. Though nanny state neutered Americans would freak out, it seems to work just fine.

*Once again, some outstanding food to be found!

A hearty thanks to Hernan et al for a fine time and rallying around to help with regard to my Brazilian visa issues and related matters!

After a trip from hell to Frankfort, Lonely picked me up. A drive through some spectacular countryside on way to Loreley; the Rhine River was flowing FAST and had overflowed its banks here and there necessitating some detours.

Outstanding time here in Loreley. 3.5 days of teaching a great group of guys; great conversation (8 countries represented at a dinner table of 9 guys: Germany, Switzerland, US, Lithuania, Russia, Slovenia, Slovakia, and I'm brain farting on the last one) and now I sit in a restaurant in a castle overlooking the Rhine.

The instruction was all KT and DLO (plus a bit of light sparring vs. mae sowks with staff with Gong Fu Dog and Lonely Dog). A very spirit cleansing time and place for me, as a result lots of new ideas came up.

Sqvqte legend Robert Paturel came by and gave me an autographed copy of his Street Boxing book and a copy of a group foto from the seminar he gave for the Inosanto Academy in the late 1980s with a much younger version of me in the back row